“Most homes are not lost because of a major fl am-
ing front hitting the house,” says Harrison. “They are lost because we have thousands of embers that get produced from the fi re.” If you have a wood exterior, keep the embers back
either by having a concrete area, like a porch, or land- scaping, like crushed rock or gravel, at least 20 inches out from the house all the way around. Keep the area free of grass, weeds or leaves and remove any dead or dying vegetation or other fl ammable materials that are on the porches, up on the eaves or congregated under windows. Even if they are metal, gutters can be a threat to
igniting the house if they’re full of leaves and catch an ember. Vinyl gutters can melt or fall off and ex- pose the eaves. Resist the temptation to move piles of fi rewood up against the house for easy access; keep them at least 30 feet away from the house. If you have decks extending out from your house, put screening up underneath them so you don’t get embers there. In the home, make sure the vents have a 1/8 inch metal screen — not plastic, which will melt, or fi berglass, which can gap out from its mooring. The most vulnerable part of your house can be the
roof, but Harrison says most ranch homes have either a metal roof or a composition Class A (fi re rating) roof. In subdivisions, many homes used to have wooden roof material, but they are threats to catch embers as they get old, and most cities have outlawed them. “You want to have a screen on top of your chimney
so when you burn, you’re not pushing embers up above your house,” he says. “Close the damper in the event embers are coming in from the outside.” Some homes have a vent that runs along the top of
the roof. Make sure it’s not plastic. Windows should be double-paned to prevent radiant heat from passing through to the house and should not be encased in vi- nyl, which can fail under heat and possibly cause the window to fall out. Moving away from the house, make sure wooden
fences have a break in them, like a wrought iron gate. A continuous wooden fence can act like a wick, draw- ing fi re straight to the house.
Life safety If the fi re is upon you, practice life safety. “We encourage folks to get out,” Harrison says. “Peo- ple don’t want to leave their homes, which I understand,
act like owners – they have a vested interest in the cattle they care for. Get to know the individuals who make Cactus Feeders a success.
Cactus Feedyard Pistol Audrain, Manager Cactus, TX (806) 966-5151
Centerfire Feedyard Martin Daharsh, Manager Ulysses, KS (620) 356-2010
Frontier Feedyard Ross Kelso, Manager Spearman, TX (806) 882-4251
Hale Center Feedyard Jess Turner, Manager Hale Center, TX (806) 879-2104
Southwest Feedyard Buddy Thomas, Manager Hereford, TX (806) 364-0693
Stratford Feedyard Tres Hess, Manager Stratford, TX (806) 396-5501
Ulysses Feedyard Randy Shields, Manager Ulysses, KS (620) 356-1750
Wolf Creek Feedyard David Watts, Manager Perryton, TX (806) 435-5697
Wrangler Feedyard Walt Garrison, Manager Tulia, TX
(806) 668-4741 At Cactus, our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) makes each employee an owner of the company.
When they think like owners, they take care of the cattle as if they own them. That’s the secret to what has made Cactus Feeders a continuing success. Retained Ownership
Call Brent Caviness, Surcy Peoples, Bill Hicks or Dusty Lubbock
806-373-2333 • 877-698-7355
tscra.org
Partner on Cattle • Sell Us Cattle
www.cactusfeeders.com
FEEDERS August 2016 The Cattleman 65 When our employees drive through the gate, they think and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124